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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27626354">waiting for afterwords</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/blancnotes/pseuds/blancnotes'>blancnotes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, Attempt at Humor, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, Light Angst, M/M, Pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 05:08:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>557</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27626354</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/blancnotes/pseuds/blancnotes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaemin has been hopelessly waiting for years, Jeno has the emotional range of a moss rock, and Chenle is just trying to figure out if he wants the world to crash and burn.</p><p>(alternatively: Zhong Chenle is tired of watching his neighbors circle aimlessly around each other with their weird mating rituals, so he takes matters into his own hands.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>waiting for afterwords</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>the chapters get longer in the next update, but for now, i just want to put this fic out there so i can finally work on it instead of letting it rot in my drafts!!</p><p>let's do this ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chenle has been living in Seoul for five years now and he can proudly say, with the poised confidence of a liberal Caucasian male, that he’s sick of watching his neighbors’ bullshit.</p><p> </p><p>He’s not pertaining to <em> all </em>of his neighbors, no. Most of the people in their tiny suburb have been nothing but warm and plucky, too eager to help out if it meant having another batch of his mom’s signature dim sum for free. As if they haven’t wolfed down countless batches of it in his family’s restaurant. </p><p> </p><p>Questionable eating habits aside, Chenle would deem himself as a decent boy with a lot of patience for his neighbors. Flexible enough to adapt himself into dealing with any sort of personality. And frankly, he’s no saint to judge anyone, but he’s pretty sure there are no other people who can rile him up as quickly as Na Jaemin and Lee Jeno could.</p><p> </p><p>Or Lee Jeno and Na Jaemin. Where one goes, the other one follows. Like some packaged deal. Both names printed only with a bold ampersand in between. </p><p> </p><p>It would’ve been better if Lee Jeno and Na Jaemin were snobby pieces of shit with no distinct personality trait. Or varsity DudeBros that he could easily tune out of his life as they, very heterosexually, chase after balls. But then again, they just <em> had </em> to be the sweetest boys he’s ever met as well. And Chenle would argue, in a voice that progressively strains in a higher pitch, that he doesn’t actually dislike them as individual people. It’s just extremely problematic for his blood pressure to see them <em> together. </em></p><p> </p><p>For five years, he has been subjected to watch a mediocre Netflix drama unfold right across the street. And it mostly features the same gut-wrenching scene—Lee Jeno gingerly walking with two cups of coffee in hand, one cup looking like some latte and the other as dark as the gust of midnight, and Na Jaemin rushing to tie his shoes at the front porch of his house. </p><p> </p><p>When they meet halfway down the road, Jeno’s eyes start folding into wrinkled crescents and Jaemin’s cheeks are now flushed with a suspiciously rosy pink, fingers laced together and hands swaying with the frigid morning breeze. The silence unfurling in between their little walk is like a guarded bubble, too delicate and intimate for an intruder to stick their nose into.</p><p> </p><p>Unfortunately, a fresh-faced Chenle once made the mistake of bounding over to ask if they had been dating. What was supposed to be simple curiosity ended up turning into a flurry of questions that left both boys speechless. And by the time he was done, they practically barked with laughter, nearly in hysterics as they giggled in between fits of <em> “This loser? Date him? No way!” </em> and <em> “I’ve seen him shit in his pants. We’ll always be just friends”. </em></p><p> </p><p>He distinctly remembers only standing there, bewildered, as a moony-eyed Jaemin beams at Jeno with a glint that shouldn’t be present between “just friends”.</p><p> </p><p>And Jeno?</p><p> </p><p>Jeno never paid Jaemin another glance back. If anything, he was practically indifferent, only hummed as he ambled forward, with a still laughing Jaemin in tow. Like nothing ever happened.</p><p> </p><p>(That same night, Chenle finally unlocked his treasured crate of scented candles, took a deep breath, and mourned for the death of modern romance.)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i have a <a href="https://twitter.com/_blancnotes">twitter</a> and <a href="https://curiouscat.me/_blancnotes">curiouscat</a> if you wanna scream at me there lol</p></blockquote></div></div>
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